According to the IA's report, that's the largest outflow
since November 2008.

The figure is also much bigger than January, when outflows
were only £28 million.Both January and February are
far worse than December, when £151 million poured into
funds.

This represents a major downturn for property funds as an
asset class.

Property funds buy commercial and residential
properties all over the UK and across the world. They
are mainly used by long-term investors who want to diversify
their portfolio, and can give a good idea of
investor confidence in the property market.

Just over a year ago property funds were among the
best-selling assets on the markets, with sales of almost £4
billion. But now they're amongst the five-worst selling — along
with fixed income and equities.

This chart shows how much property fund investment has
fallen in 2016 compared to previous years:

Danny Cox, chartered financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown,
brushed off the figures,
telling the Financial Times that structurally open-ended
property funds — funds that can issue an unlimited number of
shares — don't work.

“Managers are forced to buy and sell properties according to cash
flow, not on market conditions," he said. “The rush of money into
property funds leading up to 2007 saw managers overpaying for
properties they didn’t want, simply because they had to invest
the wall of money hitting the sector.”

Despite this, the signs are still worrying for the property
market. Business Insider reported on Thursday that the luxury
property market was
likely to stall in 2016 as house prices for London's
wealthiest areas had dropped 6.7% in just over a year.

Analysts cited rising stamp duty, fears over the impact of
Britain leaving the EU and general economic uncertainty as
factors. Whatever the reasons, they certainly seem to have had an
effect on property fund investment too.